| Company type | Joint venture |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 11 December 1987 (1987-12-11) |
| Founder | Holden,Toyota Australia |
| Defunct | March 1996 (1996-03) |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
| Products | Motor vehicles |
United Australian Automobile Industries (UAAI) was an automobile model sharing firm that operated in Australia between 1987 and 1996 as the result of an agreement betweenHolden (the Australian subsidiary ofGeneral Motors) andToyota Australia. The joint venture resulted in the two companies sharing production of locally produced automobiles by selling their models under both brands.
UAAI produced three rebadged vehicles: theHolden Apollo (based on theToyota Camry),Holden Nova (based on theToyota Corolla) andToyota Lexcen (based on theHolden Commodore).[1]
The formation of UAAI can be traced back to the May 1984 announcement of theButton car plan, the work of SenatorJohn Button, theMinister for Industry under the then currentBob Hawke ledLabor government. The plan envisaged to rationalise and make theAustralian automotive industry more competitive on a global scale by means of reducing importtariffs.[2] Under an obligation to amalgamate, Holden and Toyota formed the UAAI joint venture on 11 December 1987 that resulted in model sharing between both automakers.[3] These cars were released to the market in August 1989.[4] As consistent with the government mandated plan, UAAI operated under the framework of coordinated design, engineering and product sharing whilst maintaining independent marketing operations anddealership networks.[3] For Holden, it replaced the earlier joint venture withNissan that had resulted in model sharing from 1984.[5]
Toyota commenced manufacture of the Nova for Holden in June 1989 and the Apollo in July.[6] Both companies held back certain marketing advantages to produce a greater level of model differentiation, for example the Toyotas were positioned as slightly more upmarket and equipment levels differed.[7] Irrespective of this, many buyers could tell that the cars were merelyrebadged versions of other cars available on the market, and sales figures generated by the disguised versions reinforced this. That is, the version of the car produced by the original manufacturer far surpassed the sales figures for the rebadged version.[8]
Poor sales of the rebadged cars and an unwillingness to embrace the forced relationship led to dissolution of UAAI.[9] This occurred in March 1996.[6] Production ended later in the year, although a large enough stockpile remained for some vehicles to remain in showrooms until 1997.[10]
Introduced in 1989, theHolden Apollo was basically a badge-engineeredToyota Camry sedan and station wagon.[11] The second generation model was introduced in 1993 and remained in production until 1996.
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TheHolden Nova sedan and hatchback, like the Apollo arrived in dealerships in 1989 replacing theHolden Astra (LD), a joint development withNissan also producing theNissan Pulsar (N13).[12] The Nova was a rebadgedToyota Corolla (E90)[13] with the front panels,grille and headlamps from the Japanese-specification Corolla FX hatchback. This was a similar approach to the then contemporaryGeo/Chevrolet Prizm sold in the United States and Mexico, which utilisedE90 Sprinter panels to differentiate between GM and Toyota models. While the Nova was a Toyota design, the factory producing it at theHolden Dandenong Plant, which was a Holden factory closed in 1988 in preparation of production of the Corolla/Nova.[14]
In 1994, Holden released the second generation Nova based on theToyota Corolla (E100), now manufactured at Toyota'sAltona, Victoria facility. Production ended in 1996, with the Nova being replaced by theTR Astra, a rebadged version of theOpel Astra F built byVauxhall Motors in the UK.[15]
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TheToyota Lexcen reached Toyota dealerships in 1989, the same year that Toyota models arrived in Holden showrooms. The Lexcen was Toyota's version of theHolden Commodore,[16] available in the same sedan and station wagon body styles, but only in theV6 engine andautomatic transmission guise. The Holden however, was available with aV8 engine option, and had the availability ofmanual transmission for both the V6 and V8.[8] Holden stopped supplying Toyota with the Lexcen in 1997.
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By the end of 1993, the UAAI venture cars realised sales of 21 percent at best when compared to the models retailed by their original manufacturers.[17]
Nova production in 1992 totalled 3,697 units (16.6 percent of the Toyota Corolla figure); 3,016 Novas were manufactured in 1993 (12.6 percent), and in 1994 production amounted to 3,581 units (16.5 percent).[18] Apollo production in 1992 totalled 4,490 units (17.5 percent of the Toyota Camry figure, excluding exports); 5,314 Apollos were manufactured in 1993 (18.2 percent), and in 1994 production amounted to 5,519 units (14.7 percent).[18]
In May of 1984, the Minister for Industry in the Hawke Labor Government, Senator John Button, unveiled the federal government's new plan for the industry. It quickly became known as the 'Button Plan'. This blueprint was [...] to make the local industry more internationally competitive. [...] But its major thrusts were to lower tariffs and to reduce the number of different models manufactured locally from thirteen to six, shared between three production groups.
On Friday 11 December 1987 at 2.30 pm came the announcement: "Holden's Motor Company Ltd, AMI Toyota Ltd and Toyota Manufacturing Australia Ltd, are joining forces to create Australia's largest automotive group." [...] The press statement outlined plans to co-ordinate design, engineering and product sharing strategies while keeping marketing operations and dealer networks totally separate, and the decision was described as consistent with the Government's 'Button Plan' for forced rationalisation of the industry. [...] The joint venture organisation was to be called United Australian Automobile Industries or UAAI.
At best the badged models – Lexcen, Apollo and Nova – have achieved barely 21 per cent of the sales volumes of their original counterparts.
